In truth, however, the most noticeable thing about the meeting
was the audience. Afternoon meetings held in London to support virtuous causes are notorious for their dulness and for the scantiness of their attendance. But in spite of the fact that the afternoon was one of snow and north-east wind, conditions amounting at times to those of a semi-blizzard, the hall was absolutely crowded half-an- hour before the proceedings began, an overflow meeting was also packed, and a great number of people who tried to get in were unable to do so. That of course does not prove the utility of tho Movement, but it is a proof of what we have all along felt sure of—namely, that the better part of the nation have an uneasy conscience in regard to the use of intoxicants during war, and especially now that they realize that intoxicants are produced by the destruction of food on a vast scale. The nation feels in its heart of hearts that it ought long ago to have done what the King did in the spring of 1915 with such spirit and good sense, though without any ostentation.
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